Closing Presentation - Nov 17

The 5 day charrette closed on Monday, November 17 to a standing-room-only crowd at the County Council Chambers. The presentation focused on four key areas for planning, growth, and development for the City:

• We must protect and preserve that which brought us here including the natural beauty, the historic (and prehistoric) resources, and the strong military presence.
• We must maintain Beaufort as a living community with vibrant, diverse neighborhoods, workforce housing, and a living downtown with a strong emphasis on its history.
• We must improve mobility throughout the community with more efficient routes for the auto and prioritized transit, bicycle and pedestrian improvements to maintain our quality of life.
• We must stabilize and improve our economic conditions with a more diversified tax base, expansion of existing major employers and institutions (e.g. military, USC-B, Beaufort Memorial Hospital, Lowcountry Technical Community College), new jobs, new sources of municipal revenue, and the efficient delivery of municipal services.

A copy of the presentation is available here.

Saturday, Nov 15 - Day 4

The design studio was open throughout the day and many Beaufort citizens took the opportunity to stop by and express their visions and thoughts with the design team. Public interest remains high and a number of key planning elements are coming into focus including:

• The rerouting of US 21 to open up opportunities to humanize the Ribault Road corridor
• Infill opportunities throughout the community
• Reasonable annexation/expansion areas
• A diversity of housing initiatives throughout the community
• Sustainable site design techniques
• Redevelopment strategies for various parcels throughout the community including in the Burton community
• Preservation strategies that keep certain areas as "living areas" rather than as museums for tourists
  

Friday, Nov 14 - Day 3

Today began with regional issues related to big box, regional retail, and common issues between Port Royal and Beaufort and ended with focus groups about development and small business development.

Participation remained strong as it has been throughout the week. The design continued to post up development ideas using the principles and practices espoused in the Vision and Goals document as well as from previous planning efforts. In addition, we continued to refine and consolidate a number of previous planning visions into a larger coherent framework. Specifically the design team introduced a "low build" alternative to the Northwest Bypass and a realignment of US 21 to improve conditions along Ribault Road.

Conceptual plans were developed for various infill and new development sites including the Northwest neighborhood, the historic core, the Lafayette Street area, the intersection of Sea Island Parkway and Lady's Island Parkway, and the Burton community.

The studio will be open throughout the day on Saturday. Don't forget to submit your comments on this web site or using the online survey here.

Thursday, Nov 13 - Day 2

Downtown, Natural and Historic Preservation, and Utilities. . .
The second day of the charrette continued with strong attendance at meetings on Downtown development and parking, and Historic Preservation. Over 100 citizens and stakeholders attended meetings on these topics. Based on the comparatively lightly attended Environmental Protection & Sustainability meeting, Historic Preservation appears to be the clear preservation priority for Beaufort. Citizens and consultants also met with representatives of the County’s Stormwater Services, Beaufort Jasper Water & Sewer Authority, and SCE&G to discuss utility issues regarding growth and development in the area. Members of Beaufort’s elected and appointed boards as well as the Comprehensive Plan’s Stakeholder Committee have participated in all of the meetings.

At the daily pin-up session, designers and engineers showed refinements of their conceptual roadway network; future land use recommendations based on a series of walkable community nodes in buildable areas in the City’s western growth area; and strategic infill concepts for the Northwest Quadrant and downtown. Public comments at the pin up session included the desire to increase planning and funding for public transit; and the need to advocate for higher quality schools.

Wednesday, Nov 12 - Day 1

Housing, Arts, Transportation, Open Space, and Neighborhoods. . .
Wednesday’s meetings included meetings on Housing; Arts & Cultural Facilities; Transportation, including a meeting on bicycle, pedestrian, and transit issues; Open Space, Parks, Greenways & Blueways, and a meeting with representatives of the City’s neighborhoods. Attendance at the first day of the charrette was outstanding, with more than 200 people attending the various meetings and observing and commenting on the work in the design studio.

Meanwhile, designers and engineers worked on draft conceptual plans for the community’s growth and redevelopment areas; future transportation network; downtown site surveys; and design concepts for new downtown buildings and homes. These ideas were displayed and described for public comment at the daily 5:30pm “pin-up” session.

Charrette Kicks off on Monday, Nov 10th

Approximately 60 people attended the Public Kick-off meeting for the Comprehensive Plan Public Design Workshop at the Beaufort Middle School. The group included numerous elected and appointed officials, including Mayor-elect Keyserling, City Council members, Planning Board members, and members of the Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder committee.

After a brief presentation on the Comprehensive Plan process (see link under “Presentations” heading), the group broke into small groups to discuss the following questions and questions of community growth. The following is a summary of group ideas listed in priority order based on the number of similar ideas stated.

Small Group Discussion Questions Responses

1. WHAT DO VALUE ABOUT THE CITY OF BEAUFORT? What are those key places, things, and/or values in the community that are uniquely Beaufort and that should be preserved or enhanced? (List at least 3-5 items)

• Environment and natural resources, flora & fauna (2)
• Diversity of building design & neighborhoods
• Sense of community
• Accessibility to living needs, day-to-day needs (2)
• Affordable

2. WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SEE? WHAT specific ideas, ACTIONS OR STRATEGIES should the community undertake?

• Continue to protect natural resources, but make them accessible/usable
• Continue to protect historic resources, but make them accessible/usable
• Transportation plan for broad area: not just in and out; activities of daily living
• Proper mix of transportation alternatives (transit, walk/bike facilities)
• Economic opportunity: jobs, education, affordability
• Protect existing neighborhoods
• Infill and redevelopment for accessibility
• Southside community park (2)
• Encourage and promote festivals that display Beaufort’s cultural diversity
• Neighborhood organizations: foster sense of community, ownership of values, voices as group
• Encourage local farming (and local aquaculture/fishing)
• Coordination among governments/all entities, gov’t service, SCDOT, neighborhoods for all of the above and enforcement
• Enforcement of ordinances must be addressed and must be followed by all entities
• Develop Burton on grid; sensitive to those have been there